Tangling With Evil
by make.me.smile
Summary: Serena and Stanton struggle to keep their relationship a secret from the atrox. This story takes place after the 12th book. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

The cold started to sting Serena's bare arms as she walked away from Planet Bang. She could sense Stanton following her as a shadow.

"STANTON GO AWAY!" she screamed at the shadow that lingered near the bushes.

The shadow didn't move and Serena decided to run and some how lose Stanton. _Impossible. _She thought to herself, but it is worth a try. She ran down the road and reached a traffic light where cars zoomed past and L.A.'s gangs were hanging about. Serena knew it wasn't safe to be out at this hour, but it was better than staying at Planet Bang. _He was dancing with her!_ Serena screamed in her head. Stanton was dancing with Cassandra quite intimately on Planet Bang's dance floor. When Cassandra saw Serena she pulled Stanton closer to her. Serena wiped that thought away from her head, and as soon as that thought was gone so was this tickling sensation in her head.

"STOP IT!" Serena screamed at all the shadows around her.

The homeless and the gangs started giving her weird looks. _Probably think I'm drunk or something don't you! _Serena screamed into all the people's head that were close to her. She started walking again, past all those stares that people were giving her. Then she heard a voice calling her a witch. Serena whipped her head around and glared at the nearest gang.

"And what if I am?" She asked staring accusingly at the gang.

The group of boys just turned and walked away from her. Serena continued to walk until she finally reached her home. She walked inside to find that Collin was home, but her dad wasn't. _Probably staying late at the office._ She thought to herself. Serena walked into the kitchen to find some food and found Wally going through the trash again.

"Wally no!" Serena scolded her pet raccoon.

She kept an eye on the door, not the door itself but the shadows around it. Once she decided that Stanton hadn't followed her to her house she sat down and started eating the potato chips that were on the counter. Serena fed some to Wally and decided to take a shower and go to bed.

Serena opened the door to her room to find Stanton sitting on her bed. He smiled at her and made his way towards her.

"Don't come near me." Serena warned.

Stanton stayed where he was and had a hurt look on his face.

"You don't get it Serena. Let me tell you what happened."

"WHAT IS THERE TO GET! YOU WERE DANCING WITH HER END OF DISCUSSION."

Serena stomped out her bedroom went down the stairs and into the living room. She sat down and wished that Stanton would just leave. But of course Serena was wrong he followed her down the stairs and sat down right next to her.

"Stanton please leave." She begged.

"Will you just listen to me!"

Stanton was getting annoyed and she didn't need to be a mind reader to tell that. The two of them sat there for awhile not saying anything to each other. Serena couldn't stand the silence anymore and decided to get up and go to sleep. She walked up the stairs half dreading and half hoping that Stanton would follow her, but she heard the front door close and knew that he wasn't.

Sleep was almost impossible for Serena, and she knew why, she just didn't want to think about it. She walked down to her living room just to sit and think for awhile. Serena made her way down into the living room in darkness, and almost tripping down the last couple of steps.

"Shit." Serena whispered quietly making sure she didn't wake Collin.

To her surprise she found the living room light on. She made her way warily down to make sure if it was an intruder or not. Serena soon heard hushed giggles and whispering and she knew that it was her friends.

"What are you guys doing? It's 2 in the morning!"

All eyes turned to Serena, and the whispering and giggling came to a complete stop.

"We came because…because we heard what happened between you and Stanton."

Vanessa managed to say. Serena stood there glaring at her friends.

"Well?" Serena asked accusingly.

"We just thought maybe you might want to just you know…talk to him." Catty answered.

"I can't believe you guys! Out of all the people in the world I thought you guys were the ones that would agree with me!"

There was an awkward silence. Serena couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her own friends took Stanton's side instead of hers.

"What did he say to you guys?" Serena demanded.

"He just said that there was a reason why he was dancing with Cassandra." Jimena replied.

"Oh…a 'reason' like that makes it any better."

"Serena we just thought that maybe the reason why Stanton is doing this is maybe and most probably it has something to do with the atrox." Vanessa said weakly.

Serena stood there comprehending what has gone in and out here ear for the past ten minutes.

"I think you guys should go. We can talk tomorrow, and besides don't you need to be home Vanessa?"

Vanessa whirled around and looked at the clock behind her.

"Oh my god my mom's going to kill me!"

"Calm down Vanessa it's just this one time. Just tell your mom we had car trouble." Catty responded coolly.

"Yeah we probably should go, but Serena we're going to talk about this tomorrow." Jimena warned.

The three made their way out to Jimena's car with Vanessa running to it and telling Jimena and Catty to hurry up. The two other girls could only laugh at how funny Vanessa's face was.

Serena made her way back up her stairs again for the third time tonight. She felt exhausted and finally fell asleep.

Serena woke up, she checked her clock, but it was turned to her wall. Fear crept into Serena's mind. There was a Follower in her house. _Calm down maybe it's just Stanton…it most probably is Stanton. _She walked out of her room cautiously checking the shadows all around. She tiptoed down her stairs and looked into the living room. No one was there and none of the shadows moved. She walked through her living room to see that her kitchen light was on. _Did I forget to turn it off the kitchen light? _But Serena clearly remembered she turned it off and even when her friends were in her living room she didn't see the kitchen light on.

She made her slowly towards the kitchen suddenly she thought what if it's just a burglar? She grabbed the closest lamp and walked towards the kitchen slowly again. Serena stopped by the doorway to her kitchen. Whoever was in her kitchen was walking out. Serena readied the lamp in her hand; she turned the corner and smacked the person over the head with the lamp.


	2. Chapter 2

"OW!" cried a familiar voice.

"You know people are usually in bed and not smacking people over the head with lamps!" complained Serena's older brother Collin.

"Sorry Collin I just thought you were a follower."

"Its fine just next time don't go through the house hitting people with lamps."

Serena couldn't help but smile at her brother's statement. She was glad though that it wasn't a follower, but she realized that if it was indeed a follower she would've been in trouble. Serena would've attacked the follower physically and that only makes them stronger.

She checked the clock on the way up the stairs it was 4 in the morning. When she made it to her room the one thing that was still bugging Serena was that her clock was turned towards the wall. _Maybe Stanton turned it when he was in here_. She convinced herself that that was what happened and fell asleep with what little time she had left to sleep.

"Serena come on its 11 already!" a voice cried out.

Serena sat up in her bed and realized that Catty was the one waking her up, and Vanessa and Jimena waiting with her. She knew that they were here to talk about last night, and she wasn't in the mood for it.

"Come get dressed we're going to go eat." Jimena said plainly.

The drive was quiet and when they got to the diner Vanessa was the first to talk.

"Serena I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but do you know the reason why Stanton did what he did last night?"

Serena was quiet for a moment hoping that she wouldn't have to answer it, but her friend's eyes were on her.

"No I don't know why. But I'm upset he did it if you couldn't tell."

"Well Stanton told us why and he wanted us to tell you." Catty said firmly.

"The reason why Stanton was dancing with Cassandra was because he said that the atrox is on to you two."

"WHAT! Why didn't he just tell me?" Serena exclaimed.

"Well he tried remember?" Vanessa said smiling.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that." Serena said and started laughing.

The rest of the meal was pretty much carefree, and for once the girls felt as if they didn't have the whole world's life depending on them. The mood soon dampened when the conversation drifted back to Stanton.

"So…what should we do?" Catty asked.

"Well there isn't really anything we can do until we ask Stanton about the situation." Serena replied casually.

"Ok…so what do you suppose we do call him out just like that or find him?" Vanessa asked.

"I think we should go to Planet Bang again tonight." Jimena said smiling.

_What the hell _Serena thought. _It's a Saturday and there's nothing to do and the sooner I solve the problem with Stanton the better._

So it was agreed that they would all meet up at Vanessa's house (since she had all the clothes) and go straight to Planet Bang from there.

The rest of the day Serena sat in her kitchen thinking on how the atrox discovered about her and Stanton in the first place. The first thought that popped into her mind was that maybe she and Stanton have been spending too much time together and maybe it realized it. That was her number one guess for the situation until she thought of another one.

_Cassandra has always liked Stanton and doesn't try to hide it. So what if she made sure that the atrox found out about me and Stanton, so that she could get close to him?_

Serena ignored those thoughts and decided that she was overreacting. After all Stanton probably would know about this if it was true…right?

The car ride to Vanessa's was deathly silent and Serena knew the reason why. No one wanted to remind Serena about what she had to talk about with Stanton. Serena herself decided not to say a word because she needed the time to think about what to say to Stanton.

Once they reached Vanessa's house she was already ready. She wore low hip hugging jeans that were ripped and one of the rips came dangerously high towards her butt, and she wore a black belly baring halter. She looked gorgeous in it and even Vanessa herself thought so.

Serena grinned at Vanessa. And Vanessa blushed knowing that Serena had just read her mind. They made their way through Vanessa's house and into the room where Vanessa's mom kept all her costumes.

"I never get sick of seeing this room." Jimena said with a grin on her face.

Everyone else nodded their head in agreement. Serena looked through the closet to find something knew to wear since she has just about tried everything in this closet.

The ride to Planet Bang was different then the one to Vanessa's house. The girls had nonstop conversations and laughed all the way there. When they did finally reach Planet Bang everyone seemed excited except Serena. She still had no clue on what she was going to say to Stanton.

The line at Planet Bang moved quickly and Serena half wished it wouldn't move so quickly, but before she knew it they were in the club.

Serena decided to get the conversation over with Stanton as quickly as possible. She found the corner where usually the followers hang around and made her way through the throng of dancing people, with the music throbbing in her ears.


	3. Chapter 3

Serena could feel the dark energy surging through her as she got closer and closer to where the followers hung out. Making her was through the crowd wasn't as easy as she thought it would've been, but when was it ever that easy.

Serena had just about 5 more feet to go, when she hesitated. All the follower's eyes turned to her with hungry looks and smirks. Serena decided not to get to close. She looked from where she stood trying to find Stanton in the crowd, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Looking for Stanton?"

Serena whipped around to find herself face to face with Cassandra. She was dressed in a short black mini skirt with fishnet tights combat boots and a tube top that was riding dangerously low.

Serena glared at Cassandra, and was convinced on not letting her find out about her intentions, but it was too late the fuzzy feeling in the head indicating that Cassandra had already read her mind. The smile from Cassandra just reassured Serena on her conjecture.

Cassandra turned around and looked into the crowd. Serena followed her gaze and saw Stanton making his way through the crowd towards the two of them.

_I can't do this…not tonight._

Serena felt nauseous and started making her way through the crowd in the opposite direction as Stanton.

_Serena wait!_

Stanton's message flew threw Serena's mind, but she ignored it, and closed her mind so that none of his messages could get through anymore. She turned to find Stanton still following her through the crowd and Cassandra following after him and she seemed to be screaming his name.

This only egged Serena to start running through the crowd, which she found out soon enough is a lot harder then walking through the crowd. But she did everything she could so that Stanton wouldn't catch up with her.

Serena turned again to find that Stanton had almost caught up with her. At that very moment she bumped into a girl dancing, and Serena tripped and fell onto the ground. She felt strong arms picking her up. She failed to get away.

Serena didn't care anymore though; she let Stanton carry her into the cool night air and huddled closer to him for warmth. Stanton took this moment to speak his mind.

"Serena I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just that Cassandra told me the atrox was angered that I wasn't trying to lure you into the dark side. So I thought that maybe if I made it seem like I was infatuated with Cassandra he wouldn't know my true feelings for you."

Silence greeted them and Serena remained quiet not knowing how to reply him. _He was only trying to protect me._ She thought to herself. _I feel awful now._

_Serena it's fine you don't have to feel bad about it._

She looked up at Stanton who was staring right back at her, with his piercing blue eyes.

"Did I give you permission to read my mind?" Serena teased.

"I don't need your permission to read your mind." Stanton smiled wickedly.

He set her down on the ground, but he still held onto her closely.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner Serena."

"It's alright I should've known there was a reason behind all of this." She replied, "Stanton?"

He turned his gaze back at her to inform her that he was listening.

"Does Cassandra really think you guys are together?"

He smiled and laughed a little, "I bet she does, but don't worry she's nothing compared to you." He said looking Serena straight in the eye.

That look and those words made Serena's face heat up, and Stanton continued to laugh.

"Stop laughing at me what's so funny." Serena said giving him her pouting face.

"Nothing, just that you look really cute when you're embarrassed." He said still smiling.

Serena couldn't help but return his smile. She grabbed his arm and tugged on it.

"Come on Stanton, let's go dance."

The two of them walked hand in hand all the way back to Planet Bang.

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**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update, but I hoped you liked it, and THANK YOU to all of you who have reviewed keep it up!!**


	4. Author's Note

Yes I'm sorry if you thought this was a chapter, but it indeed is an author's note. I am having a huge, and I mean **HUGE **writer's block so…I need some help. I want to know where you guys want the story to go. Review/email me your ideas and I'll try to update as soon as possible. THANK YOU!!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait…huge writer's block, and thank you all who gave me ideas. Uru the bitchin' devilrabbi… I'm using your idea to continue on with the story!! Thanks again!!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own D.O.T.M. but I do own my character, Ethan (you'll be meeting him in this chapter).**

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Serena woke up the next morning with one heck of a headache.

"Ow…" She moaned as she sat up in bed, holding her head.

She eased out of bed so not to make her headache turn into a migraine. She stumbled through the hallway of her house and into the kitchen grabbing two advils and popping them into her mouth.

"Rough night?" A voice asked.

Serena jumped at the voice and saw her brother, Collin, glaring at her from the kitchen doorway.

"Um…yeah." She replied, unsure of the reason why Collin was giving her the death glare.

"You didn't come home until two last night." He said, as he continued to glare at her.

"Yeah sorry about that." Serena apologized quickly, trying to get out of this conversation.

"Where were you?" Collin continued to question.

"I was out with my friends…where else would I be?" Serena said her voice carrying a bit of irritation.

"Serena are you hung over right now?" He accused.

"What?! What are you talking about?" She exclaimed, and then clutched her head. All that screaming hurt her head.

"Well right now all I know is that you came home last night at two in the morning, and you're acting as if you're hung over."

"I am not hung over." Serena snapped then stomped out of the kitchen, and back into her room.

She groaned before lying back down on her bed. _I'm not hung over…just last night's music was too loud._ Then her thoughts drifted to when Stanton and her left Planet Bang. They sat on the beach talking to each other and just lost track of time, that's the reason why she came home late.

"But I can't say that to Collin either." She grumbled, "Or he'll accuse me of being a prostitute, hooker, whatever." She flailed her arms to add to the effects of her grumbling.

She checked the clock on the nightstand beside her bed, and they read 11:34 a.m. _Well it's too late to go back to sleep, maybe I should go out for a walk._ Climbing out of her bed once again she walked over to her closet, and pulled out a white t-shirt and black sweatpants. She pulled her hair up into a messy pony and bounded down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Collin asked, the anger in his voice had not subsided.

"A walk." Serena answered nonchalantly.

She could feel Collin glaring at her retreating figure, and she was almost sure he would say something to stop her, but he didn't. She let out a sigh of relief when she closed the door behind her, and stood there realizing she had no idea where she wanted to go. She considered going to Jimena's at first, but ended up deciding Catty's house was closer.

The sun was out warming every inch of her body, and she loved it. For a Sunday though the street was unusually quiet, there were no people or cars roaming the streets, and it frightened Serena a bit. _It's probably the Advil._ She thought to herself. Up ahead she could see a guy her age walking down the same sidewalk she was. Out of instinct she looked to see if he was cute. _Oh god if Stanton knew…_but that thought died as soon as she saw the guy.

He was obviously her age if not older, and had brown straight hockey hair length hair. His eyes were what caught her attention immediately; they were a piercing emerald green color. The guy looked up and stared right into Serena's eyes surprising her, and causing her to trip over her own feet. The ground came hurtling up to her face, but before her face made contact with it she felt strong muscular arms wrap around her waist.

"You okay there?"

Serena winced not from pain, but from knowing whose voice that asked the question.

"Yeah." She responded weakly, as she felt her face flush, "Thanks."

"Yeah no problem." He said flashing a perfect smile.

Serena adjusted her shirt and took a step, ready to get herself as far away as possible.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name." He said boldly.

She sighed knowing if Stanton found out he would surely kill him, "Serena."

"That's a pretty name, mine's Ethan."

Serena smiled politely and began to make her way down the sidewalk.

"Serena!" Ethan called.

She was grateful at first that such a cute guy would notice her and be so nice, but now he was getting on her nerves.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"Jeez what did I do to you in the past thirty seconds?" He joked.

She rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright no need to get feisty, I was just wondering if you wanted to take a walk with me?" He asked his eyes dancing.

"I can't I'm meeting my boyfriend." She answered blandly.

"Does your boyfriend know you ogle at hot strangers that walk past you on the sidewalk?"

Serena immediately felt her face flush once again, "Whatever if you have don't have a better pick-up line to use, I'm leaving."

"Okay I'm sorry for being rude I ju-" Ethan was interrupted mid sentence by a deafening roar.

An all-to-familiar black car came speeding down the road, and stopped right beside Serena and Ethan.

"Get in." Serena heard Stanton's voice growl.

She turned to give Ethan one last glance, a warning glance. He seemed to understand, because he didn't say another word to her. Before she slammed the car door it already began speeding down the road.

"Stanton slow down." Serena said quietly as he blew through a stop sign, causing some unwanted hand gestures to be thrown in their direction.

"Who was that?" Stanton snapped.

"He helped me up when I fell." She replied.

She felt a tickling sensation in her brain and immediately closed her mind. Stanton whipped his head around to stare at her.

"Why aren't you letting me into your head?" He asked genuinely confused.

"I prefer it if you would ask first." She spat, "Besides how did you know where to find me."

He gave her one last glare before replying, "I went to your house to find you but you weren't there so I searched your brother's mind."

Serena just nodded in response. The rest of the drive was quiet, and Serena then noticed that she had no idea where they were going.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know."

"Well there aren't a lot of choices, since we don't want any other followers finding us." She added.

"We'll go to the park."

"We will?" Serena said her tone questioning. Stanton never suggested on going to parks.

"Yeah we will." He whispered.

The rest of the ride was unbearably quiet, and Serena fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. She kept on glancing at Stanton hoping that was a hint that she wanted _him_ to start talking first, when he continued to look out the windshield she gave up.

She sighed, "Stanton you're mad aren't you?"

No response.

"Stanton please answer." She begged.

He let out a sigh this time running a hand through his hair, "I'm not mad Serena, just frustrated."

"About?"

"About…" He never finished, just letting that sentence hang there.

"Stanton don't tell me you're jealous?!" Serena said in a teasing manor.

"What?! Jealous of him? What gave you-"

But she cut him off by laughing hysterically, and she couldn't stop.

"It's not that funny." He grumbled trying not to smile, but she saw the corners of his mouth twitch.

When she finally stopped laughing she had pools of tears collecting on the edges of her eyes.

"Alright I'll stop." She managed between gasps.

Serena realized that they were already at the park, and oddly there wasn't anyone else out. This puzzled her like it did on the sidewalk. It was such a nice day why wasn't anyone else out?

"Come on." She heard Stanton's voice say. He was standing just outside her door holding a hand out to help her up.

She took his hand and slipped out, but as they made their way through the park their hands stayed entwined.

"I wonder why no one is out today." Serena said.

"Probably have better things to do then walk through the park." Stanton stated plainly.

"Well I for one think it's the perfect day to be out in the sun." She said turning her head and smiling at Stanton.

"Same here." Stanton said his lips curling up into a smile also. He pulled Serena closer to him and gently laid his hands on her hips, while he brought his lips onto hers.

"Should you really be doing that in public?" A familiar voice sneered.

Serena snarled, "Cassandra."

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**A/N: Thank you to all who were patient enough to stay with me!! Please don't forget to review!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here's the next chapter, I'm sorry it took so long for me to update!! This chapter was really poorly written, and I apologize for that, but I'm trying to figure out where I want this story to go. This chapter was me trying to work through a little writer's block. I hope it's somewhat decent.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own D.O.T.M.**

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Serena could feel her anger surging through her body, and it took every ounce of self-control she had to not attack Cassandra. That and the fact that Stanton's arm was wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Cassandra." Stanton greeted casually, too casual for Serena's taste.

"Hey Stanton." Cassandra replied, sickly sweet.

She began making her way towards them swinging her hips from side to side, obviously trying to be seductive. Serena looked at Stanton to see that he remained eye contact with Cassandra the whole time it took her to get to them.

She could feel her face twist into a scowl, and she wriggled out of Stanton's arms pushing him away forcefully. Stanton broke eye contact with Cassandra, and gave her a puzzled look. So _now_ she has his attention.

Feeling Stanton's eyes on her, Serena continued to avoid eye contact. _Why is he being so calm about this whole situation? I thought we were done with Cassandra!_

"Stanton." Cassandra said in a pouty voice, which made Serena want to throw up. "Why have you been ignoring me?"

"Cassandra I've already talked to you about this." Stanton replied his tone grave, "We have nothing more to discuss."

"I actually disagree." She replied quickly, the devilish grin she had on her face began to worry Serena. "You were the one who asked me to help you deceive the atrox, and I agreed. Now I want something in return."

A dark look flashed across Stanton's face, and Serena for a moment thought he was going to kill Cassandra.

"What is it you want?" Serena asked through clenched teeth. She was surprised at how calm her voice was.

The grin on Cassandra's face grew, "I'm pretty sure the both of you know."

Yes they did know. All Cassandra wanted was Stanton to herself.

"That's not going to happen." Serena said accentuating every word.

"Really? Is that true Stanton?" Cassandra asked turning her gaze towards him. Stanton didn't reply he just continued to stare, more like glare at Cassandra. "Well then I guess I'm going to have to let the atrox know your true intentions with Serena."

"Cassandra." Stanton nearly growled her name, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Suddenly Cassandra threw her head back and laughed, "Do you honestly think that's going to work on me Prince of the Night? Just threatening me like that? Trust me I could do worse to you."

"Cassandra you forget I'm the Prince of the Night. Nothing is denied to me." Stanton said almost smugly.

"Still I don't think the atrox would be too happy to find out that the whole reason you spend so much time with Serena is because you're actually in _love_ with her?" Cassandra threatened, "I wonder how that will sound, Prince of the Night in love with a goddess."

Serena couldn't stand it anymore, right when Stanton and she were at their happiest someone had to come along and ruin it. She glared at Cassandra channeling all her energy then released it all on Cassandra. Instantly Cassandra fell backwards, not suspecting the attack.

"You little bitch! I'll make sure the atrox kills you first!" Cassandra screamed, "Stanton if you don't want your precious little Serena dead then I think it's in your best interest to listen to me!"

Serena noticed a flicker of hesitation cross Stanton's face. She couldn't believe he would actually consider listening to her! She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.

_Stanton, please don't._

He turned and looked at her, his face pained.

_Serena I don't have a choice. If the atrox finds out he will kill the both of us. I can't let that happen to you._

_So you would rather be with Cassandra?! We can fight the atrox together!_

When he didn't respond she knew his answer. Her hand slipped out of his and she began walking away.

"Well I guess I was wrong about us." Serena said sadly, trying to ignore the pain on Stanton's face.

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**A/N: I know this chapter is really, really, really short but I thought that this would be the perfect way to end off the chapter. Forgive me!! And please don't forget to review!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I had another writer's block, and finals were coming up.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own D.O.T.M., but I do own Ethan.**

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Serena ignored Stanton calling for her as she made her way out of the park and onto the street. _Don't look back, don't look back._ She kept telling herself, but she couldn't help herself. She turned to find Stanton following behind her in no hurry to catch up.

"Damn it." She cursed under her breath and picked up speed hoping to lose him, even though she knew it would be a waste of effort.

She ended up in a light jog. She raced past houses and traffic lights having no idea where she was headed. When she thought it was safe she turned to find Stanton a ways behind her. Serena sighed in relief turning her head back around. She came in contact with another person, and she jumped.

"Serena?" A familiar voice said.

She looked up to find Ethan staring at her. She turned back around to see whether or not Stanton saw, but he was still too far behind to see anything.

"Um…hi Ethan." She greeted hesitantly.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." She replied quickly, "I'll see you later." She looked behind her again to see where Stanton was.

Ethan followed her gaze, and saw Stanton lightly jogging now to get to Serena.

"Is that your boyfriend?" He asked.

"Yes, no…" _Were they? _She rubbed her face in her hands in frustration, "Look I really got to go."

She sidestepped around him, but he grabbed her arm, "What-"

"Let me give you a ride." Ethan offered, staring intently at her.

"No Ethan I don't think-"

"Just this once." He said not making it a choice. He dragged her over to his silver Audi TT.

Serena stared at the car astonished that a guy her age could afford such a car.

"My parents helped pay." He said as if reading her mind.

She nodded in response, and continued to follow him.

"SERENA!" Stanton shouted, now sprinting in their direction, "STOP!"

She shook off the urge to look back again, and slid into the passenger side.

"SERENA HE'S-"

But Stanton's cries were drowned out by Ethan gunning the engine, and squealing out of the parking space.

"Jesus." Serena cried as she was thrown back into her seat.

"Sorry." Ethan muttered, "It looked like he was catching up…so…where are we headed?"

She paused at the question realizing that she was sitting in a car with a man she barely knew.

"My house." She answered quickly.

He smiled at her, "You're going to have to let me know where you live."

"Uh right…take a left here." _Why was she so nervous?_ She observed Ethan out of the corner of her eye and realized how he looked better than he did before. His light blue eyes were a huge contrast to his brown/black hair. The shirt he was wearing accentuated his lean muscles, not to mention it seemed to be a designer shirt. So far Serena could make two things out of Ethan, he was hot and rich. He seemed perfect, but then again nothing in this world is perfect.

The ride fell into an awkward silence with Ethan staring intently at the road, and Serena gazing out her window. Every once in a while Ethan would turn to glance at her as if ready to say something, but would catch himself midway and turn his gaze back towards the road.

"Tell me about yourself." Serena said breaking the silence.

Ethan sighed and didn't reply at first, to Serena it seemed like he was trying to figure out how much to tell her.

"There really isn't that much to know about." Ethan responded.

"Well do you have any siblings?" Serena asked urging him on.

"No I'm an only child."

"What about your parents?"

"To tell you the truth I really don't talk to them all that much." Ethan said in a forced whisper, "My parents still help me pay for everything, but they would just rather not deal with me."

Serena found herself nodding at his statement, and said no more trying not to force the topic on him anymore.

"Well now it's only fair that I get to know some stuff about you." Ethan smirked.

Serena laughed, "Alright."

"Let's start off with your _boyfriend_. What's going on between you guys?"

_Any question but that._ Serena thought bitterly, she really didn't feel like talking about Stanton right now. The thought that he picked Cassandra over fighting the atrox _together, _was too painful.

"Pass." She mumbled.

When Ethan didn't respond to her mumbling she turned to look at him. His expression was unreadable, and Serena didn't know what she said wrong. She thought back to when Stanton was still chasing them. Before Ethan floored the gas pedal she remembered Stanton shouting something. He said that Ethan was…

She felt her body tense as everything came together, why Stanton didn't like Ethan, and why it seemed like he could read her mind.

"You're a follower aren't you?"

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**A/N: Well there's another chapter for you!! Please don't forget to review!! I'll try and update as soon as I can, but since its summer now I got a lot of things going on so please be patient with me!! Thanks to all my readers, you guys are the greatest!!**

**Jennifer**


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